Ameresco is a leading performance contracting company, meaning that they install energy efficient and renewable energy solutions for institutions and government entities which are paid for out of the institution's energy budget, from the cost savings. Ameresco disappointed investors with their guidance last quarter, largely due to the dysfunction in Washington. Ameresco's largest customer is the US government.

The stock has been trading down since, and especially in the last few days. Apparently investors are expecting more bad news on February 17th, when they will file their annual results. I'm more focused on the long term, which I think is bright because I expect Obama to do everything he can to increase the government's energy efficiency over the next four years. Since Ameresco's services are paid for out of the budget for utilities, they should be shielded from budget cutting. In fact, Ameresco helps the government balance the books by delivering energy services at lower overall cost.

Given the current pessimism, the stock is likely to rebound even if fourth quarter results and guidance are in line with expectations. That said, I think reader's best bet is to buy Ameresco at market prices on Friday, so long as the price is near $9.

UPDATE: 9:30 am 2/15 Ameresco released an outlook for FY 2012 this morning, and will release full earnings on March 1st. 2012 earnings should be even worse than expected, due to weather and fiscal uncertainty. Ameresco's backlog is at a record high. As expected, Q4 2012 was bad, but 2013 and 2014 look good. I still think it's a good time to buy, and this "disappointment" may produce a short-term opportunity in the mid-$8 range. If that opportunity appears, I'd grab it.

Zoltek Companies (NASD:ZOLT)

Current Price: $8.51

Suggested Limit Price: $7.50 (sister); $8 (readers)

Suggested Allocation: 21% (sister); 10% (readers)

Zoltek makes carbon fiber. Their biggest market is currently large wind turbines, and their biggest customer Vestas (Copenhagen:VWS). The extension of the Production Tax Credit extension should help the company this year, but the long term bullish reason to own this stock will come when auto manufacturers turn to carbon fiber to reduce vehicle weight and improve fuel efficiency, as they are likely to do over the next few years to meet increasingly stringent CAFE standards and EU emissions requirements.

Zoltek is the stock that led me to pick last week to send my sister her annual recommendations. It was briefly trading below $8, and even fell below $7 for a day. I did not think the opportunity would last. Unfortunately, the window was shorter than even I expected, and her limit order did not execute. It probably won't now, so I'm afraid we're going to chalk this one up as "the one that got away." It could still fall back again, but I don't expect it. It's still a good buy around $8, but not the screaming deal it was. I'd suggest readers put in limit orders at $8, but for fewer shares.

Power REIT (NYSE:PW)

Current Price: $10.50

Suggested Limit Price: $10.75

Suggested Allocation: 18%

Power REIT is a tiny Real Estate Investment Trust which owns 112 miles of railway and is starting to invest in Real Estate under renewable energy farms. The $0.40 (3.8%) annual dividend makes it a nice dividend stock for a long term hold in my sister's conservative portfolio, but the company also has the potential for some incredible upside if they prevail in an attempt to foreclose on the massively unfair lease of their track. Details here.

US Geothermal (NYSE:HTM, TSX:GTH)

Current Price: $0.33

Suggested Limit Price: $0.31

Suggested Allocation: 5%

US Geothermal is a geothermal project developer with projects in Nevada and Oregon. Many of its plants have recently come on-line, so earnings growth over the next year is already built in. Nevertheless, developing geothermal projects is a very risky business, so I was conservative on the limit price (there's a good chance the order won't execute) and kept the allocation small.

Canadian Stocks

I found out after I sent my sister her suggested trades that her broker does not let her trade Canadian stocks, even if they have a US OTC ticker, so my sister has not purchased any of these. I won't be including any Canadian stocks next year unless I can persuade her to open an account with a better online broker. But there's no reason readers can't benefit from my picks below.

Waterfurnace Renewable Energy (TSX:WFI, OTC:WFIFF)

Current Price: $16.96

Suggested Limit Price: $15.50

Suggested Allocation: 18%

Waterfurnace is a leading manufacturer of geothermal heat pumps. A reliable dividend payer (C$0.96 annually) it's a long time favorite of mine. I traded as low as $14.90 in late January, but was already well above the limit price I gave her when I suggested buying to my sister. Although I did not really expect the trade to go through, I would have been happy if it had. This is one to watch long term and accumulate on any dips.